Experts from the University of Durham, in the northeast of England, reported in the journal “Psychological Science” that babies already react positively or negatively to food in the womb. For example, fetuses would have shown a “smiling face” after their mothers ate carrots. It was already known that babies react with an aversion to cabbage, but now, for the first time, evidence has been found that fetuses in the womb also have different reactions to smells and tastes. Fetuses likely develop taste when they inhale and swallow amniotic fluid in the womb.
The researchers used 4D ultrasound to record the babies’ facial expressions in 100 women at 32 and 36 weeks’ gestation. The mothers were given a capsule containing about 400 milligrams of carrots or 400 milligrams of cabbage powder about 20 minutes before the exam and had not eaten anything flavored for an hour before. Fetal facial responses were compared with those of a control group that received neither carrots nor cabbage. Result: even small amounts flavored with carrots or cabbage were enough to trigger a reaction.
food preferences
Co-author Jackie Blissett of Aston University in Birmingham says that repeated exposure to prenatal taste can lead to food preferences after birth. “In other words, exposing the fetus to less ‘popular’ flavors like cabbage could mean getting used to those flavors in the womb.”